Dispensing devices such as hypodermic syringes, oral syringes, and nebulizer injectors are often intended to be used once and then disposed of. These devices are frequently shipped from the factory or distributor in an unfilled condition; a pharmacist or nurse fills them with the proper dosages of liquid medication to be administered to the patients.
Syringe dispensers are usually shipped to the pharmacist or nurse in packages containing a number of dispensers. These packages may be of any convenient size. For example, a package of twenty hypodermic syringes is commonly used. A typical package includes a vacuum-formed flexible plastic tray enclosed in a heat shrink plastic film. In such a package, the syringes are positioned side by side in cradles which are formed integrally with the plastic tray. When the syringes are of the back-fill type, they are arranged in two banks in the tray with the filling ends of the syringes of each bank facing one another. The tray is grooved or otherwise weakened between the two banks of syringes so that when the heat-shrink plastic film is cut or removed, the tray may be bent along this groove or line of weakness so that the filling ends of the hypodermic syringes are readily accessible for filling. Although this packaging arrangement represents an improvement over previous packages, it is relatively expensive to manufacture and to load with syringes. Additionally, it is somewhat inconvenient to handle during filling. The heat-shrink plastic film is removed to permit bending of the tray but removing the film leaves the syringes free to fall out of the tray as it is stood on end for filling. Also, a separate tray must be provided for each size, type and quantity of dispenser. This causes inventory problems for the manufacturer and limits the packaging arrangements available to the purchaser.
An object of this invention is a simplified packaging arrangement for syringe dispensers, including hypodermic syringes, oral syringes, and nebulizer injectors which reduces the cost of packaging and simplifies filling of the syringe dispensers.
Another object of this invention is a packaging arrangement which permits groups of connected syringe dispensers to be supported on a rack for filling without major alteration of the package.
Another object of this invention is a packaging arrangement which can be used interchangeably with syringe dispensers of various lengths and diameters.
Another object is a packaging arrangement which can easily be adapted to packages containing varying numbers of dispensing units.
Another object is a packaging arrangement which does not cause visual distortion during filling of the individual syringe dispensers.
Another object is a packaging arrangement which requires less storage space for an equal number of syringe dispensers in comparison with conventional packages.
Accordingly, the invention relates to a packaging system for a plurality of syringe dispensers, each dispenser comprising a tubular syringe body having a sealed dispensation orifice at its front end and having a pair of finger-grip flanges projecting radially outwardly from diametrically opposed sides of its back end, each dispenser further including a back end seal through which a medication or the like may be introduced to fill the syringe dispenser. The packaging system comprises a pair of narrow, elongated connectors, each connector including two elongated, resilient opposed fingers having their tip ends spaced by a distance slightly smaller than the thickness of the dispenser flanges, each connector gripping the flanges of an aligned row of syringe dispensers to connect the dispensers together in a compact, coherent row package that can be supported in an open rack to enable filling of the individual dispensers without removing them from the package. A sealed film cover closely encompasses the entire row package to protect the syringe dispensers against contamination.